Free Arabian Legion

The Free Arabian Legion was a 20,000-strong foreign volunteer unit of the German Wehrmacht that was active from 1941 to 1945 during World War II. The legion was created by Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Amin al-Husseini and Iraqi prime minister Rashid Ali al-Kaylani, and it consisted of Syrian Arabs, Iraqi expatriates, Arab and Muslim volunteers and prisoners of war, and Tunisian volunteers. The legion was stationed in Greece for much of the war, and Adolf Hitler planned to use the unit in conquering the Caucasus so that an Iraqi government-in-exile could be established there; this was never achieved. The legion was taken out of the front in November 1943 following the death of its commander, and it was sent to the Peleponnese to assist in crushing the anti-fascist insurrection.